An early update *wiggles eyebrows* you're welcome:} so, so sad. So sad. *sigh* read on and Happy Hunting.
Chapter 9: A Problem of the Past
24 hours earlier...
"Aaah! I can't believe we're almost there!" Mitsuki squealed in delight as she and Temeharo flew closer to the mountaintop her memories lie waiting in.
Sonna was getting tired, but Mitsuki pushed her to go faster. They were so close Mitsuki could feel the cold of the snow atop the mountain.
She whipped her reins and they landed on a big ledge off to the side. They hopped down and were greeted by the people that lived there.
They all seemed friendly and took care of their guests graciously, they fed Sonna and put her in a barn, and they took Mitsuki and Haro inside and gave them warm milk and food.
After eating, Mitsuki dragged Haro out and they got supplies for their hike up to the top. The villagers warned them that no one had ever come back from the mountains peak, but Mitsuki felt sure they'd be safe.
They trudged on for what seemed like forever but could've only been a couple of hours before they finally got tired and had to rest.
The two sat there panting in silence for awhile before either one of them spoke, "Haro, I was curious-" Mitsuki said, looking at her companion. He smiled fondly.
Mitsuki tried to think of a way to ask him without pushing him over the edge, without making him angry with her. "Before, when you said I should know-" She trailed off.
Haro chuckled and surprisingly wasn't angry. "Yeah," He breathed slowly. "Ok, I'll tell ya," He said.
Mitsuki excitedly came closer so she could catch every word.
"I wasn't always a spirit you know," He started off. "I was a man, like all the other humans on earth. I was average, I wasn't any kind of bender, just a normal guy with a normal life." His face turned grave, Mitsuki knew what he was about to say was something that was gonna hurt.
"I- even had a fiancé-" It came out almost as a whisper, Mitsuki barely caught it but she heard.
"She was amazing of course," He suddenly turned happy again. "We were so happy together but then-" Once again his emotions switched.
Mitsuki had a hard time reading him this time, he just looked dull and void. "Then there was an angry spirit," He whispered. "It apparently was terrorizing this town, I didn't believe the stories but she did." He said. "She did."
"Anyway, she wanted to go help the towns people, we argued about it and she left angry." His voice was becoming more cold and filled with hate. "She uh- never came back." He mumbled, choking on his words. "Um, the- the spirit got to her, it tore her to shreds. Leaving almost nothing," Mitsuki gasped and her hand went to her mouth.
She'd seen the effects of evil spirits rampages but this must've been horrible.
"What happened next?" She asked almost unintelligibly.
Haro smirked and let out a sarcastic laugh, "'What happened next?' " He mimicked. "What happened next was I went on a rage, that spirit killed my fiancé and my ch-" He stopped himself.
His eyes darted up to Mitsuki's and extreme pain filled them. Mitsuki gasped a little, and the look went away. It was replaced by one with pure love and kindness. He smiled a little and sighed contentedly.
"It killed them." He mumbled. "I went on a rage, I started killing every human being in sight." He confessed. "I was being a total idiot, I had no control over what I was doing. I-" He looked to Mitsuki in hopes that she'd forgive him.
"I didn't mean to." He whispered. "But I killed lots of people. The spirit council decided I needed to be stopped, so they brought me in to become the spirit of rain. Rain came for the first time in the history of the world, they said it was like the tears of all the lost souls that now roam the spirit world, it was my punishment for killing all those people." He said sadly.
"I've been on far more missions than you ever have, double even triple that. They wanted to pound into my head the lesson from what I'd done. I've been alive for decades, you have too but still," He shook his head in disgust at what he'd done.
"I finally learned the lesson and they let me finish with all the missions, now I just make it rain whenever the plants need water." He finished.
Mitsuki was silent.
And finally Haro couldn't stand it any longer, "Mitsuki please, please forgive me." He whispered and let the tears flow freely. She didn't respond.
"Mitsuki I'm truly sorry for what I've done, and I promise you I did learn my lesson." He pleaded. "I'm not like that anymore!" He yelled, flailing his arms up in frustration.
Mitsuki finally looked at him and nodded. "I believe you. I forgive you." She mumbled.
Temeharo smiled and hugged her, but she didn't hug back. He had no idea the conflict that was running through her mind, she was changing her mind about not sending him to Keonama, she was debating if she should do it.
She decided she would.
"We should go," She said, pushing him back and smiling faintly. Haro grinned and they journeyed on.
They reached the top easily, Mitsuki half expected a battle. Between her and that dragon maybe, or some other spirits here to stop her from getting her beloved memories. But nothing came.
Haro fished in his pocket for the key to the giant vault they came across. He was smiling so happily, she'd finally remember and he'd get his love back.
But she turned on him, she took the key and stopped him. "I'm really sorry Haro," She said pathetically.
He frowned. "What's going on?" He asked confusedly. She sighed but kept her hand pressed against his chest to hold him back.
"I'm really sorry." She repeated and grabbed something from her pocket.
It was the blue powder. Haro's face fell as he realized her trick, he became panicked and tried to stop her, "No! Mitsuki no!" He screamed in utter fear.
She uncapped the bottle and got it ready fast, "No! You don't understand!" He screamed again, his voice was so full of terror Mitsuki almost didn't do it. Almost. But she did.
She took the bottle and threw the powder on him and said the words quickly so he'd be sent away. "Don't do this please!" Were his last words before a blue spiral took him away.
Mitsuki was left alone on the cold, snowy, mountain.
She shook her head at his actions and turned to the vault.
"You've done it now." A voice said. She darted around to see Yue with a sad expression. "Done what?" Mitsuki asked.
Yue shook her head. "Sending him to Keonama was a mistake. I tried to warn you." She said.
Mitsuki blinked in confusion, she had no idea what all this meant.
"Go dear. Get your memories and you'll understand what you've done," Her voice echoed.
Mitsuki obeyed as Yue disappeared. She unlocked the vault and was immediately scooped up inside by a bright light.
•
•
•
She came out awhile later, tears stinging her pale face as a strong wind swept through the peak.
"What have I done!" She wailed, her voice echoing off the rocks. "What have I done!" Her tears were hot against the cold, and she fell to the snow in defeat.
She'd just killed Temeharo.